


Sweet Clarity

by Pardra



Category: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: Auron is absolutely his Dad, Gen, Glasses, Headcanon, Humor, Tidus makes things awkward again, illiteracy rates in Spira decreases by one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pardra/pseuds/Pardra
Summary: There's something a little off about Tidus, something that becomes just a little more pronounced when making purchases.(Original summary I had in the document was "Tidus can't freaking see")
Relationships: Auron & Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Sweet Clarity

It wasn’t a problem at first. The alphabet had changed a little over the course of a thousand years, just like the language, but not so as to be unrecognizable. Then it was simple enough to read signs, made large and eye-catching. But then, after Luca, he was a permanent part of the group with more agency and more inclusion. Then it was a problem.

When he was sent to fetch something from a store, it was normally easy enough to snag Yuna or Auron for assistance, but once the group began to insist that he should know his way around a “modern” store by now, it became more of a guessing game to find what he was looking for. He didn’t want to be a burden on them, or be dramatic, so he just had to hold off until they reached Zanarkand and he went home. Then it wouldn’t be a problem because the solution was lying on his kitchen table where he had left it the night of his last game.

They stopped at an inn in the Thunderplains, cranky and stressed from hours of screaming and questions, mostly from Rikku, but also from Tidus. He felt over sensitive from how often little fingers of electricity from the towers seemed to find him. He’d never gotten a good shock, because he was sure he’d be dead by now, but it didn’t stop him from claiming he had.

The inn shook, gently, as lightning struck the tower above it. Against his legs, under the table, Rikku let out a howl of fright, so he reached down idly to pat her head, further enforcing her resemblance to a terrified dog, and then passed a menu down to her. The choices were very limited here, but he didn’t think he recognized any of the sample images.

“See anything that looks good?”

He wound up deciding to get what she did, after Auron had snapped at her to come up and sit in the chair like a human being. She sat sniffling beside him but refrained from any further outbursts. 

Auron was staring at him over the table, so Tidus stared back. “Can I help you?”

“Why don’t you just order something you like?”

“You know I’ll eat anything.”

Wakka nudged hard against Tidus’ shoulder, nearly sending him flying into Rikku. “He always gets whatever one of us get. Guess we don’t have any of that fancy food they’ve got where you’re from, eh?”

Tidus let out a forced chuckle, Auron’s eyes narrowing. He still had a menu, so he held it out across the table and pointed to the top item. “What does this say?”

Tidus bent his head obediently and stared at where the finger was pointing. He hummed, as if really debating what the nonsense said. “Well,” he said at last. “If I could read it, I would tell you.”

The mood around the table changed immediately to something awkward and dour, and Yuna made a soft, sad, “oh”. They all looked very guilty, Tidus just looked bewildered, living in Spira, where most people could read at least a little, the illiteracy rates in Spira, as well as the schooling, wouldn’t occur to him.

“Why didn’t you just tell us, brudda? Man, that makes a lotta sense now…” Wakka said, looking incredibly guilty as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Y’know, Lu might be able to teach ya, or Yuna…”

Rikku raised a hand quickly. “Me! Me, I can help, I know all about that kind of stuff!”

Tidus was starting to look hopeful. Rikku was Al Bhed, maybe she really could get him what he needed. It wasn’t like they didn’t have the solution in Spira! He’d seen it frequently enough in the clergy. And Maecchen! He really needed to ask Rin, too.

Yuna at this point looked so uncomfortable that a soft, sensitive plea or apology was surely incoming. Seeking to avert disaster, Auron sighed and reached into his pack, still sitting on the floor beside him. After a moment, he pulled out a pair of plain, black reading glasses. Tidus let out a little angry cry, scowling at him.

“You had my spares this whole time and you just let me suffer?!” 

“I thought you had your contacts,” he said, after a moment of hesitation. He did look uncertain about something, but he wasn’t sure what that was about. Now their companions just looked confused.

“No! Of course not, I was in a blitz game when all this happened, why would I have been wearing contacts?” He demanded, taking them when Auron gingerly held them out to him. “They would have been glued to my eyeballs if I’d been wearing them this long anyway.”

Point. They’d had an incident not long after Tidus first got contacts, where he forgot them.

Tidus turned them this way and that, satisfied they hadn’t been damaged, and slipped them on. Suddenly, the menu was crystal clear. 

“Sweet clarity…” He sighed, feeling his headache receding already. “I almost forgot what words are supposed to look like when they aren’t blurry.”

He immediately looked at the menu again and was relieved to see that what he and Rikku had ordered would have been his choice regardless. She was peering at him now, her head turned almost entirely upside down like a curious owlet.

“Wow, Tidus! You look… different!”

Across the table, Yuna made a noise of agreement in the back of her throat, nodding, but had nothing further to add. At least it was better than what Jecht said when he wore them. He chose instead to turn and scowl at Auron, who had dipped his head further into his collar to hide his smirk.

“I cannot believe you held my reading glasses hostage. Thanks for keeping them safe for me,” Tidus added, finally dropping his annoyed tone.

Not that Auron had believed it was genuine after the first few words. Honestly, he should have noticed before, but he had only been with the group for a few stops. It would be just like the ridiculous boy to conceal his problem behind some other, trivial issue than address the serious one.

“You’re welcome. Now your companions can stop feeling awkward around you when you try to read.”

**Author's Note:**

> I started this immediately after Heavenly Bodies and then just.... forgot about it, despite it being 90% finished? Anyway, like a few months ago, at the tender age of almost 26, I went get an eye exam for the first time and found I had a mild astigmatism and have a tiny prescription. It's made all the difference in the world for gaming on the TV. I had no idea that things weren't supposed to be a little blurry!
> 
> This seems to be the only fandom I can write fluffy, lighthearted stuff for. I like to headcanon that he has glasses. I mean, out of that whole group, statistically...
> 
> Please drop a comment or kudos if you enjoyed!


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